So assured of itself, the novel has so much to say and does it with crystalline, sharp prose that evokes the bleakness of winter as you wait for sprinSo assured of itself, the novel has so much to say and does it with crystalline, sharp prose that evokes the bleakness of winter as you wait for spring’s thaw.
It asks of the reader, which is more important: being right or being good? And is it easier to be good when you are in a position of power or in a role that requires obedience? How, if at all, do our strivings corrupt us?
Many layered. Chilling. A story worth visiting and revisiting. It’s easy to read but hard to digest. I’m impressed. ...more
Simply named ‘the child’ and ‘Grandmother,’ the two main characters of this novel-in-vignettes live in the wake of loss. The recent deaths [3.5 stars]
Simply named ‘the child’ and ‘Grandmother,’ the two main characters of this novel-in-vignettes live in the wake of loss. The recent deaths of Grandfather and the child’s little brother, as well as the absence of her parents who are dealing with their grief on their own, leaves the two protagonists to navigate life together.
Told in 84 small chapters ranging from a single paragraph to a few pages long at most, Tamangur calls to mind Tove Jansson’a The Summer Book. Semadeni is a poet and the prose reflects that sensibility: strong images leave lasting impressions in very few words, turns of phrase that surprise & delight, and powerful sentiments about life wrapped in tiny moments between a grandmother and her granddaughter.
A melancholy pervades the text due to the grief they grapple with but it’s peppered with moments of laughter, revelation, and awe at the complexities of life. We see through young and old eyes, and meet an eclectic cast of townspeople in their small alpine village. You can smell the forest and taste the mountain air.
I don’t know what else I wanted from this story, perhaps just a bit more story? The non-linear structure and brevity in each scene felt more like prose poetry than a novel, and while I found many of the chapters affecting, others felt disconnected from the overall narrative and could perhaps have been replaced. Nonetheless, a beautiful and evocative read that took me somewhere new and left me with lingering thoughts about life and death. ...more
“I mean, I guess the question of understanding isn’t about intelligence, it’s about feeling, about entering into contact.” - Clarice Lispector in a 19“I mean, I guess the question of understanding isn’t about intelligence, it’s about feeling, about entering into contact.” - Clarice Lispector in a 1977 interview, months before publishing this novel and then dying
A book to be experienced. And from the feelings derive meaning. A story that resonates and refracts—light, life, beauty, death. It was beautiful in the way that a skull is beautiful; hollow and frightening and reminds you that life was once but no longer is.
—
Book quotes:
“As long as I have questions and no answer I’ll keep on writing.”
“One way of getting is not looking, one way of having is not asking and only believing that the silence I believe to be inside me is the answer to my— to my mystery.“
“I swear this book is made without words. It is a new photograph. The book is a silence. This book is a question.”
“I’m sure of one thing: this narrative will deal with something delicate: the creation of a whole person who surely is as alive as I am. Take care of her because all I can do is show her so you can recognize her on the street, walking lightly because of her quivering thinness.”
“(Some people have got it. And some people don’t. It’s very simple: the girl didn’t. Didn’t have what? Exactly that: she didn’t. If you see what I’m saying, fine. If you don’t, that’s fine too. But why am I bothering with this girl and what I want more than anything is purely ripe and golden wheat in summer?)”
“Since life’s like that: you press a button and life lights up. Except she didn’t know which button to press.”...more
Becky Chambers is so good at writing cozy sci-fi stories. On top of that, her technical writing about very complex subjects is delivered in[3.5 stars]
Becky Chambers is so good at writing cozy sci-fi stories. On top of that, her technical writing about very complex subjects is delivered in a way that makes them very easy to read, without feeling dumbed down. I don't know how she does it!
This one follows a crew of 4 astronauts on a long term mission to various planets outside of earth's solar system. It takes place in the not too distant future when we have developed better technology for sustaining human life on long-haul space travel. Ariadne is the narrator writing back to earth to explain their missions, detailing the relationships with the other crew members and the 4 planets they stop at along the way.
It's a simple, lovely little story about humanity stretching out its hands to the far reaches of space looking for answers, but knowing that ultimately the best answers we can find to the biggest questions we are asking are usually right within our grasp....more
[Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025]
Having recently read and loved Albert Camus's The Stranger, it was interesting to read a more co[Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025]
Having recently read and loved Albert Camus's The Stranger, it was interesting to read a more contemporary French novel also by a philosopher that explored similar ideas in a tone that reflected the near absurdity of life, of being a human, all through the eyes of a seemingly detached and off-putting narrator.
The story follows a woman who works for the French navy monitoring the English Channel/La Manche at night. She's often tasked with responding to distressed calls from immigrants attempting to cross the channel to seek refuge in the UK.
On one particular night, based on real events in November 2021, a raft of 29 immigrants meets its end. Their deaths are presumably due to the lack of urgency and consideration by the narrator who claims that help is on the way, though it is not. And her cut and dry attitude is in stark contrast to public sentiment about her perceived culpability in their undoing.
What Vincent Delecroix delivers here is a philosophical thought experiment in a stunning three-part novella that will cut you to your core. He doesn't write off the narrator's thoughts & feelings, but weaves them seamlessly into the prose in a way that forces the reader to read between the lines and consider one's own opinions and, most importantly, actions.
Each section of this book took a surprising turn. I'll avoid spoiling anything because at only 110 pages this book is one you will find hard to keep reading but not want to put down, discovering it for yourself in quick bursts. It was purposefully uncomfortable and in my eyes incredibly effective. I think this is a book that should be required reading, and one that I can definitely see winning the 2025 International Booker Prize....more
George Orr is an ordinary man with an extraordinary ability: to change the world through his dreams. Literally, his nighttime imaginings have real-worGeorge Orr is an ordinary man with an extraordinary ability: to change the world through his dreams. Literally, his nighttime imaginings have real-world effects when he wakes up. And his fear of this power, to completely alter the fabric of reality with his dreams, drives him to drug himself to avoid dreaming at all. This behavior lands him in therapy with Dr. Haber who begins to understand the immense power George holds and how Haber himself might harness it for his own wish fulfillment.
This book brings up issues of free will, the responsibility of those in power to lead with morals, the devastating effects of change (i.e. the butterfly effect/Mandela effect), and how we respond in the face of adversity. Le Guin explores all of these through a unique story of alternate realities and how for every action, there is a reaction which we cannot ultimately control.
Each of George's dreams is like a stone tossed in a pond, and the highlights in this book are seeing how the ripples play out in the world around him each time he wakes up.
Occasionally, because this is a science fiction novel, Le Guin drifts into a lot of technological jargon that lost me, mainly when Haber would start to describe his machinery or the processes by which he conducts his sleep experiments. I'm personally a reader that will go with the rules of the world which the author creates and don't love/need a ton of explanation. It's not poorly done and it makes sense for the character and genre, but I found those bits took me out of the story itself and the ethical dilemmas it considers.
I also wish Heather had gotten a bit more time on the page. She was an interesting character to round out the cast of three and I felt she was slightly underdeveloped. I loved whenever the narrative let us get into her mind and learn more about her world, and her place in it. But she often felt more like a pawn for George's story just as George was a pawn for Haber.
This might be an unconventional first novel to read from Le Guin but I can see why she's revered within the science fiction community, and the American literary scene at large. She's more concerned with philosophical questions than space battles and action sequences, which, as mainly a reader of literary fiction, I appreciated. She has a descriptive but concise writing style that serves the characters' thoughts and actions well, taking you along easily into its rhythm. ...more
I didn't quite get on with the loose structure of this. It made it hard to feel grounded in any sort of narrative, and perhaps that's the [3.5 stars]
I didn't quite get on with the loose structure of this. It made it hard to feel grounded in any sort of narrative, and perhaps that's the point. But I found aspects of this incredibly moving and tender. There's so much compassion for the characters, especially Fanny, which makes sense in light of the author's own experience with losing her little sister and writing this book to contend with those circumstances.
The idea of the other main character being called The Narrator but not being the actual narrator made more sense as the story went on, but I don't think it quite worked for me fully. Perhaps if I re-read this now in light of the last 2 chapters, I would appreciate it even more. I think she's a skilled writer and the translation is flawless, but for me there wasn't quite *enough* to this book to blow me away. Still, there were quite a few very beautiful moments sprinkled throughout and it does an excellent job giving you perspectives of both parties: the one struggling with mental illness and the ones who carry the weight of caretaking.
"It's not that he's spineless, he's simply made in such a way that his life began with a question, and along the way all the things he has seen, read, heard and experienced have given him part of the answer, but over the years, of course, these answers have grown more and more meager, warped, swollen, and grayed, and he's so enamored of this perpetual back and forth between edification and composition that he keeps on toiling away."...more
I’ve been slowly making my way through this series over the last few years and now can say I’ve finally finished it! Unfortunately this was my least fI’ve been slowly making my way through this series over the last few years and now can say I’ve finally finished it! Unfortunately this was my least favorite of the 3 books. I love Binti as a character but I didn’t care for the plot of this one which felt scattershot. And there was a bit too much explanation for things I didn’t think really added to the story and felt more convoluted than in books 1 & 2. Still worth reading this trilogy and probably better to do so back to back! ...more
[3.5 stars] Very cool concept. Wonderfully written and excellently translated. I just think it being the start of a series made me feel like, by the e[3.5 stars] Very cool concept. Wonderfully written and excellently translated. I just think it being the start of a series made me feel like, by the end, I wanted more (a good thing! I will continue) but that this one didn't satisfy as much as a 1st book in a series should, in my opinion. It's making me question whether this whole concept needs to be broken out into more volumes or could be instead one large volume or maybe 2-3 bigger ones. We shall see! Maybe I'll eat my words and see, in hindsight, why she ended this one where she did. But for now I liked, didn't love, and hope subsequent volumes provide a bit more meat....more
[3.5 stars]This was an incredibly sweet and sentimental story about growing up and learning to accept changes in life.
It follows a 4th grade boy who b[3.5 stars]This was an incredibly sweet and sentimental story about growing up and learning to accept changes in life.
It follows a 4th grade boy who becomes somewhat infatuated with the deli worker at his local grocery store who he dubs 'Ms Ice Sandwich.' She wears cool blue eye shadow and has a frosty demeanor that he, as a kid with nerves and anxiety (possibly on the autism spectrum as well though it's never explicitly stated) seems to admire. Over the course of this novella he befriends a girl at his school named Tutti and deals with his dying grandmother who he and his mother live with and care for.
It's a beautifully translated little book that takes a snapshot of one ordinary life to remind you about its precious and fleeting nature. It manages to balance profundity with mundanity and avoids cliche. I really enjoyed this!...more
I can’t believe it took me so long to finally read this one. A classic. I flew through it but had it go back and reread whole sections because it was I can’t believe it took me so long to finally read this one. A classic. I flew through it but had it go back and reread whole sections because it was so dense and layered but also so very readable?? I can definitely see myself returning to this one again in the future. ...more
A very short, very strange little novel that follows a woman who lives in a care home and pushes the edges of societal expectations especially for thoA very short, very strange little novel that follows a woman who lives in a care home and pushes the edges of societal expectations especially for those living in bodies with disabilities. It's quirky and wry and also a bit charming at times. But I just felt that it wasn't quite enough material for me to love it. It was only 90 pages and explored some interesting ideas around inner peace, the physical versus spiritual, and the roles we play in a larger context. I just wish it had been a bit meatier to allow us to sit with character longer and continue to push these themes further. ...more
What happens when your sense of reality and your sense of self become detached from one another? What causes that to happen and what are the irreparabWhat happens when your sense of reality and your sense of self become detached from one another? What causes that to happen and what are the irreparable damages done to the mind and soul of a human being when that occurs at a young age?
The narrator, Yozo Oba, of Osamu Dazai’s novel No Longer Human is a character used to explore this reality. Largely autobiographical and set in early 20th century Japan, the book examines what it means for a man of means to feel meaningless; to suffer with depression and lingering trauma from childhood with no way to properly work through it. He turns instead to vices as well as a performance of a human being (what he calls ‘clowning’) to mask his pain. It’s tragic indeed.
Dazai’s writing is excellently translated here by Donald Keene. It reminded me a lot of Albert Camus’ The Stranger which I recently read for the first time. Though in a way I felt more pity for the Yozo Oba here than for Meursault in that one.
Without spoiling anything, there are some occurrences in his childhood that unalterably shape the rest of his life, and make him feel like he doesn’t fully understand everyone else. He struggles to relate to society, to the social constructs the majority tend to participate in and uphold. He seems to see through the facade of our shared reality and ultimately is left in isolation because of it, at least in his mind.
The book highlights a few instances across his life of him losing his grip on reality and his very existence, even attempting to take his life time and again (the author attempted it five times in his own life).
It’s a difficult, almost detached read since we are in Yozo Oba’s mind and he feels almost completely outside of reality, in his own world. But it’s also deeply rooted in the real pain that perhaps more people than we realize share and struggle with day to day. Sadly, he cannot see that in others and feels so far away from those around him, making the final pages of this novel all the more tragic....more
I love a book that plays with structure and builds tension; this did that so well and delivered a slam dunk of an ending for such a short book. HoweveI love a book that plays with structure and builds tension; this did that so well and delivered a slam dunk of an ending for such a short book. However, I found the characters to be a bit cartoonish at times, feeling more representative of a concept than a real person. Anthony's writing is sharp, though, and I did like how each alternating chapter revealed more and more about their backstories and secrets. It leans a bit toward soap opera, but then the nuanced ending causes you to reconsider how you feel about these characters and their choices. Deceptively smart, though maybe not the most impactful or memorable story ever.
This was originally published in 1960 and on the cutting edge of Italian science fiction. So it's extra interesting that it explores themes[3.5 stars]
This was originally published in 1960 and on the cutting edge of Italian science fiction. So it's extra interesting that it explores themes and topics that are even more widely discussed today, namely artificial intelligence. Particularly it looks at this through the lens of humanity, embodiment, and the soul. I thought the writing was sharp, at times even darkly funny and a bit campy (on purpose), and that leant itself well to an environment that allowed mostly unbelievable things to happen to progress the story forward. But by the end I think I just wanted a bit more exploration from this. It didn't push it far enough for me to LOVE it, but I enjoyed it still and would definitely check out more of this author's books!...more
I think I liked this one even more than the first. It had more of an emotional impact and made me feel more for the characters especially in the seconI think I liked this one even more than the first. It had more of an emotional impact and made me feel more for the characters especially in the second half. It was nice to return to the Morisaki Bookshop and see what was going on a few years after the events of book one. I would love it if he wrote more books in this series!...more
"But of course, if I really paid attention, there were plenty of other living things surrounding me in the city as well. It was never just the two of "But of course, if I really paid attention, there were plenty of other living things surrounding me in the city as well. It was never just the two of us, Sensei and me...And I never really acknowledged that any of them were alive in any way. I never gave any thought to the fact that they were leading the same kind of complicated life as I was."
Tsukiko is a 38 year old lonely woman who wanders into a local bar one day and runs into her high school Japanese teacher, whom she continues to refer to as Sensei. They develop a sort of stilted companionship, inhibited by their large age gap, but bonded over their shared love of food and beer. They leave their encounters up to chance mostly, running into one another at the bar or walking around their neighborhoods. However, as time progresses, they start to develop feelings for one another, though their awkward natures and lack of confidence draws the process of love, the antidote to their loneliness, out for quite some time.
"I, on the other hand, still might not be considered a proper grown-up. I had been very much the adult when I was in elementary school. But as I continued on through junior high and high school, on the contrary, I became less grown-up. And then as the years passed, I turned into quite a childlike person. I suppose I just wasn't able to ally myself with time."
The story is quite short, told in small vignettes rather than one continuous narrative. We encounter them mostly sharing drinks at the bar, though they go on some small adventures together that reveal bits and pieces of their characters. However, I felt the context for the novel was lacking for me. I think there's an intentionally to their opaqueness; they hardly know themselves very well so the reader can't get to know them beyond the page either. Much like the haikus they work on together in one chapter, their descriptions are brief and momentary, focusing more on the process than the product.
I also found the dialogue to be quite awkward, and for me it wasn't in a way that fed into their characterization. I think many times it just sounded unnatural and strange, not sure if that's a translation issue, or just a personal preference. Perhaps others would read that and feel the characters even more illuminated, but for me I felt kept in the dark from their authentic selves.
The food descriptions and nature writing in this, when it occurred, was beautiful. There's a meditative and melancholy atmosphere that pervades the book that makes this definitely more of a mood or vibes type of read. Perhaps someday if I were to revisit this in a different time and place, I might feel more strongly towards it. By no means a bad book, but one that felt every so lackluster in the end and didn't give much for me to chew on....more
I'm gonna be honest: I kind of have no clue what I just read. But I liked it? I think this book would be even better on a re-read (and it's only 100 pI'm gonna be honest: I kind of have no clue what I just read. But I liked it? I think this book would be even better on a re-read (and it's only 100 pages so that's totally doable). It reads like a little puzzle and each chapter you get a new piece but you aren't quite sure where it goes until you finish and even then it takes some effort to put it all together. Maybe the point isn't to try and even piece it all together but enjoy the process, the struggle, the ideas, the creativity.
Basically this book is sort of about an author named Tomoyuki Tomoyuki who is able to go to a place and quickly learn the language and write a story in that language. Then they leave and are nearly impossible to track down. Sort of like a literary Banksy. No one really knows who the author is and where they are at any given time. But A.A. Abrams is trying to track the author down and will go to great lengths to try and collect all of their scattered works and piece together the puzzle of who this author is.
But really the book is about so much more than that. It's about language, translation, the malleability of our minds, travel, creativity, ideas and more.
I feel like people just have to experience this book for themselves, and try to not cling too hard to conventions of what a novel is and instead experience this book for what it is: a journey. If you like short weird little books, especially translated books and Japanese fiction, I'd give this one a shot! I think I'll revisit it someday and see if I uncover more from within its labyrinthine pages....more
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